The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Tuesday suspended the Milwaukee judge accused of helping an illegal immigrant evade federal agents until further notice.
The court, which has a 4-3 liberal majority, said Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan would be temporarily relieved of duty while she faced federal charges. Dugan was arrested on Friday and charged with obstruction of a federal agency and concealing a person to help them avoid arrest.
“The court has learned that Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah C. Dugan has been charged with two federal criminal offenses, one of which is a felony and one of which is a misdemeanor,” the court wrote in an order. “In the exercise of that constitutional authority and in order to uphold the public confidence in the court of this state during the pendency of the criminal proceeding against Judge Dugan, we conclude on our own motion that it is the public interest that she be temporarily relieved of her official duty.”
It added that Dugan would be “temporarily prohibited from exercising the powers of a circuit court judge in the State of Wisconsin” until further “order of the court.”
Lawyers for Dugan said that they disagreed with the court’s decision.
“We are disappointed that the Court acted in unilateral fashion,” they said. “We continue to assert Judge Dugan’s innocence and look forward to her vindication in court.”
Federal investigators say that Dugan helped Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, avoid arrest by Immigration and Customs Enforcement when he showed up at the Milwaukee County Court Complex. Flores-Ruiz was charged in Milwaukee with three counts of battery-domestic abuse-infliction of physical pain or injury. He was previously deported in 2013.
According to the FBI, six members of an ICE task force showed up at the courthouse on April 18 to arrest Flores-Ruiz, where they agreed to wait to arrest him until after his domestic abuse appearance. The FBI said that Dugan had been informed of the ICE agents’ presence and “became visibly angry” and called the situation ”absurd,” according to witness interviews.
After directing the arresting ICE team to the chambers of the chief judge, Dugan returned to her courtroom and told Flores-Ruiz to leave through the “jury door” into a non-public part of the courthouse, according to charging documents. Despite leaving the courtroom through the jury door, the ICE arresting team was able to track down Flores-Ruiz outside of the courthouse, where they arrested him after a foot chase.
